The chakras are vital life forces that run up and down your spine. They emit energy. Everyone and everything is made of energy. In order for a person to function properly and to be healthy and well-balanced, the energy must flow freely through these points. Blockages and imbalances can create massive problems and knock an individual out of whack.

The chakras are also important because they create and affect the aura. The aura is a soft, ethereal glow that emanates from the body. It is what your energy looks like, and what colors are represented form your personality. You want your aura to always have a healthy and radiant shine. In this state, the aura promotes happiness, well-being and balance between your spiritual, physical and emotional planes. It also attracts positivity to you; both in the form of positive people and beneficial situations.

So, you must always strive to keep the energy flowing freely and unabated through your chakral centers. The third chakra, or the Solar Plexus chakra, is responsible for your personality, your self-esteem and your self-image. It can also affect your personal power, your sense of belonging and your ability to make good and sound judgements and decisions. This is also where your gut feelings originate and a portion of your emotions are stored here. An imbalance in the Solar Plexus chakra can cause poor decision-making, trouble taking action, poor concentration, poor self-esteem, a distorted self image, eating disorders, the inability to judge a situation accurately and feelings that other people are far better than you. As such, it is vastly important to care for and nourish your Solar Plexus chakra, should you ever feel there are blockages or if you should ever feel that you are experiencing trouble with your self-esteem and self-image.

Thankfully, there are many ways in which to nourish the third chakra. You can start by eating the right foods. Carbs and dairy products feed this most essential chakra, so reach for bread, pasta, grains, cereal, rice, flax seed, wheat and sunflower seeds. Also reach for milk, cheese, sour cream, ice cream and yogurt. Spices that might liven up your Solar Plexus chakra include mint, ginger, chamomile, fennel, turmeric and cumin.

You may also want to give your subconscious subtle cues that make it absorb positive feelings about your personality, self-esteem and the other aspects of this chakra. To do so, drape shades of yellow, gold and orate in your home, with yellow being the primary color. You can invest in sheets, tablecloths, curtains, blankets, rugs and throw pillows to add some additional color to your place. Adding gemstones can also be helpful, too, as they shift energy about. The gemstones that correlate to your Solar Plexus chakra are citrine, golden topaz, amber, yellow tourmaline and yellow sapphire. These should balance out this chakra nicely.

Floral essences and oils and scents will also enhance the third chakra. You can take a bath or burn incense, but we sure you are smelling and inhaling their healing powers. Smelling chamomile, vetiver, yarrow, peppermint, petigrain, lemon juniper, and marjoram will easily heal an out-of-balance chakra.

You can even get creative in order to add some additional healing to this most vital energy source. First of all, creative endeavors help you to be more socially active and the more friends you make and the more positive social interactions you have, the bigger the boost to your self-esteem. Also, since primal, gut feelings and emotions are stored in the Solar Plexus chakra, it is a good idea to have a healthy and positive release, the kind that creative pursuits afford. Indeed, dancing, singing, miming, acting, doing mosaic tiling, filmmaking, writing, pottery and theater will all add positive experiences to your social calendar.

You can also add positive affirmations to your daily routine. Since self-image is tied to this chakra, you want to strive to be more positive on a daily basis. Try saying positive phrases as soon as you wake up in the morning. Say out loud, “I am a wonderful and worthy person. I can have whatever I desire. I trust the universe to protect me and to give me the best that it can offer.” Or, instead of doing daily affirmations yourself, you can invest in some subliminals and let the positive messages be absorbed by your subconscious mind. Subliminals are positive spoken messages that fall just below the auditory level. Soothing music or the sounds of the ocean usually play over them. But the messages are absorbed if you play them often enough, so subliminals are often a good way to go. Either way, you want positive messages to be surrounding you on a daily message.

So, now that you have the tools, you can effectively nourish and nurture your Solar Plexus chakra. A few weeks after you start with these techniques and practices, you will start to notice a huge change and you will feel much better. Your self esteem will be through the roof and your emotions will be balanced and you will feel healthy overall. As the energy flows freely through your third chakra, people will be drawn to you, as your personal magnetism and charm will be on full display. You will have a pleasing and an engaging personality. This will all be good and central to your manifestation work. Surrounded by positivity and kind people, you will be placing positive vibes and feelings out into the universe. And, as the law of attract states, you will also be attracting this positivity back. The universe will open up and give you the best of all it has to offer. Soon you will be walking down the right path, the path that will ultimately lead you to personal fulfillment.